Detroit Lions injury report: Za’Darius Smith questionable, 6 players OUT

On By Littum

Detroit Lions and Houston Texas have released their injury designation ahead of their Week 10 game on “Sunday Night Football.” Let’s take a look at Friday’s injury report and update you with what we know. Note that any changes from last week’s report will be fat.

Excluded

Decker appeared to injure his shoulder bone on Thursday and was unable to practice on Friday and has been officially ruled out.

It’s not entirely clear how the Lions will handle his absence. If they don’t want to adjust the offensive line, they would put Dan Skipper in the left tackle spot and go with the next man up. They could choose to flip Penei Sewell to the left side, as they have done in the past, and push Colby Sorsdal into the starting right tackle spot. But with Decker’s injury coming so late in the week, would they have enough time to make that adjustment? We are definitely in a wait-and-see situation.

Rodroguez and Reeves-Maybin were unable to train all week and will not be available to play on Sunday – this will be Rodriguez’s second game in a row to miss. Look for the Lions to have Trevor Nowaske step into a bigger role as the team’s third linebacker with Ben Niemann as the LB4. On special teams, that could mean we see some decisions around inactives being made with special teams in mind, and a player like safety Loren Strickland could be active to fill a role in the third phase of the game.

Martin, Moseley and Melifonwu all remain in the evaluation window and will be able to practice again next week. Martin has just over a week left of his course, while the other two have just over two weeks available.

Questionable

  • EDGE Za’Darius Smith (Personal)

Smith was given two days off after his trade to Detroit and was on the practice field for the first time as a Lion on Friday. Unfortunately, they are not entirely sure if he will be ready to step into a role on game day.

“We want to get him out there, get him moving around a little bit and we’re prepared to see what we can do and where we can go with it,” Campbell said Friday morning.

As a veteran Smith told the media, he feels confident that he will pick things up quickly and alluded to the fact that he wants to play, but also confirmed that the decision was up to the coaches.

“It’s more about just getting the players in and knowing the blitzes,” Smith said. “They basically want me to be ready for the blitzes, so hopefully something can work here in the next 24 hours.”

Not listed with a damage designation

  • RB Sione Vaki (knee)
  • DL Josh Paschal (illness)
  • DL Mekhi Wingo (ankle)

All players in this section are not listed with an injury designation for the game and will be available and expected to play on Sunday. Vaki will provide special teams with a big left tackle, while Paschal will likely return to a starting edge role, while Wingo will add more depth to the defensive line as a whole.

The Texans’ injury designations

Note: Starters are fat.

Excluded

  • RB Dameon Pierce (groin)
  • LG Kenyon Green (shoulder) — placed on injured reserve
  • EDGE Will Anderson Jr. (ankle)

Questionable

  • WR Nico Collins (hamstring) — Still on IR, in evaluation window, limited practice Friday
  • WR Tank Dell (back) — added to the injury report Friday
  • DT Folorunso Fatukasi (groin, shoulder) — haven’t trained this week
  • LB Jake Hansen (ankle) — Limited Wednesday, did not practice Thursday or Friday
  • EDGE Jerry Hughes (hip) — Still on IR, in evaluation window
  • CB Jeff Okudah (quad) — Still on IR, in evaluation window

Full practice

  • RG Shaq Mason (hip)
  • IOL Jarrett Patterson (concussion) – Expected to return to action this week
  • EDGE Derek Barnett (calf, shoulder)
  • EDGE Dylan Horton (illness)
  • LB Azeez Al-Shaair (knee) – is expected to return to action this week
  • S Jimmie Ward (groin) – is expected to return to action this week